close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffThoracic aortic aneurysm risk factors include:
- Age. Thoracic aortic aneurysms occur most often in people age 60 and older.
- Tobacco use. Tobacco use is a strong risk factor for the development of an aortic aneurysm. The longer you've smoked or chewed tobacco, the greater your risk.
- High blood pressure. Increased blood pressure damages the blood vessels in the body, raising your chances of developing an aneurysm.
- Buildup of plaques in your arteries (atherosclerosis). Atherosclerosis, the buildup of fat and other substances that can damage the lining of a blood vessel, increases your risk of an aneurysm.
- Being male. Men develop aortic aneurysms more often than women do. However, women with aortic aneurysms have a higher risk of rupture than do men.
- Race. Aortic aneurysms occur more commonly in whites than in people of other races.
- Family history. People who have a family history of aortic aneurysm are at increased risk of having one. People who have a family history of aneurysms tend to develop aneurysms at a younger age and are at higher risk of rupture.
References
- Aneurysm. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/arm/arm_all.html. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Woo YJ, et al. Management and outcome of thoracic aortic aneurysm. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Woo YJ, et al. Clinical features and diagnosis of thoracic aortic aneurysm. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Marfan syndrome. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/mar/mar_all.html. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Hiratzka LF, et al. 2010 ACCF/AHA/AATS/ACR/ASA/SCA/SCAI/SIR/STS/SVM guidelines for the diagnosis and management of patients with thoracic aortic disease: Executive summary. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2010;55:27.
- Wang GJ, et al. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 8, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on